


Happy New Year

by multipletabs



Category: Life Is Strange (Video Game)
Genre: First Kiss, Fluff, M/M, New Year's Eve, New Year's Kiss, No Mark Jefferson
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-31
Updated: 2017-12-31
Packaged: 2019-02-24 12:45:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,548
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13214046
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/multipletabs/pseuds/multipletabs
Summary: Warren is trying to play World of Warcraft alone in his dorm on New Year's Eve when the internet goes out, so he goes in search of the router and runs into Nathan along the way.





	Happy New Year

**Author's Note:**

> I got the idea the other night for a cute New Year's Eve fic and I just had to do it, so I whipped this up in like three days.

“Ugh, damn it.”

Warren groaned as Blackwell's infamously shitty wifi crashed for the fifth time that night. Luckily for him, he wasn't in the middle of a raid or anything important like that, but it was still impossible to play World of Warcraft under these conditions. Warren hadn't planned to be back at Blackwell so soon after spending the holidays with his family. He had a nice Christmas with them, of course, but he also had an English project due a week after break and he wanted to get a head start on it. 

Truthfully, that was only part of the reason why he came back early. The other was that Warren had grown tired of having to be around his extended family. He loved his parents, but they were always asking about his grades and Warren quickly realized how much he had grown accustomed to the independence of living in the dorms at Blackwell. On top of that, he was always forced into playing games with his little cousins; if his mom ever caught him playing a single player game, she would make him stop and put on something they could all play. 

But the worst of it were all the questions from the older relatives. Aunts asking about his plans for after graduation. _Still trying to make it through this school year, actually. One day at a time, you know?_ Uncles asking if he had finally taken up any sports. _Hah, no... none of them really interest me, I guess._ And the questions he hated the most: his grandparents prodding him about his love life, asking if he had starting dating yet, or at least if there were any cute girls in his life.

And Warren... Warren really didn't know how to answer that one. How exactly would he explain to his 75 year old grandma that, yes, there was this one girl he had been crushing on a little, but then she started dating a punk girl with blue hair and a whole lot of tattoos so he rightfully backed down, and then he began hanging out with the feared rich kid whose parents pretty much own the school and now he's afraid he might be developing those same feelings for him? He could probably say just that, but it's far too wordy and would most likely give his poor grandmother a heart attack, so he just laughed the question off with a, “No, I'm just trying to stay focused on my studies.”

Therefore, Warren returned to Blackwell a few days earlier than expected, and was now sitting in his dorm on New Year's Eve playing WoW in an attempt to distract himself from this project he was still dragging his feet on starting, and... some other thoughts. 

Warren still couldn't wrap his mind around the whole Nathan situation. At the start of the school year, Warren had been bullied by him. It was never as bad as what some of the jocks like Zach and Logan did, of course, but there were still shoves in the hallways, insulting names during class, and Warren could swear that one of the many “Warren Gayrams” he saw across school was written in Nathan's handwriting. 

That all had slowly changed after Ms. Grant stuck them together on a project. Warren had been terrified at first. He even asked Ms. Grant if she was pulling some sort of mean trick on him, but she had insisted all her pairings were assigned completely at random. Warren had still been terrified when they met up later that day in Nathan's dorm, and most of all, he had been terrified when Nathan threatened to ruin his life if he fucked up their project. But he didn't. In fact, they ended up getting an A, and Warren had learned that Nathan wasn't as bad as seemed.

Nathan originally told him he only added Warren's number to his phone so they could talk about the project, but when it was done, he actually started texting Warren. At first, the texts were infrequent and short, but they increased over time, to the point Nathan was texting him at least once a day, and was usually texting him late into the night. What's more, Warren started spending a lot more time in Nathan's dorm after he discovered his massive collection of movies and his sweet overhead projector. Sometimes they played video games together. In class, Nathan would pass Warren notes with obscene and rude gestures on them, then would stifle his laughter as he watched Warren's reaction. And, strangest of all, there were a few times when Warren had been eating lunch with Max or walking across campus to his next class that he swore he saw Nathan with a camera out of the corner of his eye, but when he turned to get a better look, he was gone.

And Warren didn't know what to make of any of it. He knew they were friends for sure, at least. Nathan would call him annoying and say his jokes were lame, but still texted him at least once a day and still invited him for movies and games in his dorm. Regardless of what Nathan said, Warren knew the rich kid enjoyed his company. But was that all there was to it? Warren was as far removed from the pulse of Blackwell gossip as a person could be, but even he had heard stories about Nathan leaving Vortex Clubs party with at least one girl on his arm. There was no way someone like that could ever be interested in a completely average nerd like him, Warren was sure of it. The picture taking was probably something Nathan had to do for a class project and nothing more.

Warren wasn't sure how he felt about Nathan. He just knew that he wanted to spend more and more time with him, that he always admired how Nathan always managed to dress so stylishly, that he really liked the color of his hair when the sun shone on it, and that... Nathan's features were arranged quite nicely on his face. Okay, Warren probably had a crush on Nathan. And that scared Warren more than anything.

And Warren wouldn't have to think about any of this if he could just play World of Warcraft! If the damn internet would just work, he could join a raid and forget all his confusing feelings about the boy across the hall. But no, Blackwell's wifi just has to be shitty and leave Warren alone with his thoughts, the worst punishment known to man. He checked his phone, hoping for some sort of relief from the prison of his mind, but there were no new texts. _Probably because everybody is out having fun instead of spending the night alone in the dorms trying to play WoW,_ Warren thought as he noticed there were still about 20 minutes to go before midnight.

“Might as well go see if I can find the router, or at least something to help with this,” Warren mumbled to himself as he exited out of WoW and got out of his computer chair to go search the dorms. He didn't know much about the layout of the school's dorms, but surely there had to be a tech room somewhere that housed the wifi router. Maybe he could mess with it and get it working again. 

At home, he never had to worry about this happening because he had a nice, stable Ethernet connection in his room, but his parents wouldn't like it if he showed back up just to play WoW, especially after telling them about that project. And fuck, that project. Warren had forgotten about that, too. Yet another cruel reality this lack of internet made him face against his will. 

The dorms were silent as Warren stepped out into the hall. Off in the distance, he could hear the faint thumping of the bass of some electronic song coming from the distance of the school's pool. The Vortex Club had decided to hold a New Year's Eve party this year. Nathan had even nonchalantly asked if Warren was planning to go, but Warren said no. He had a bad experience with alcohol at his last Vortex Club party in October and it was a bit too soon to relive that. Warren was never much a fan of big parties like that, either. He would have liked to hang out with Nathan some, but Nathan would probably just spend all his time in the VIP section, away from Warren.

Warren tried to push the thoughts of Nathan from his mind, but found it difficult as he passed by Nathan's dorm. There were no lights or sound coming from the door, because he was off probably having the time of his life at the party, getting wasted and kissing girls. The slate next to his door was surprisingly clean. Warren considered leaving a message, something short and goofy, but everything he could think of at the moment was too forward, and he didn't want to freak Nathan out. Plus, he was on a mission. He had to find where the router was hidden.

Warren stopped to check the map of the dorms, hoping to find a clue as to where he should start his search, and thankfully, he found one. A room labeled “TECH” on the first floor. He made his way down to the first floor, and was surprised to discover the tech room door ajar and the light on. He didn't expect anyone else to be at the dorms instead of the party. Even people like Luke, who hated the Vortex Club and especially Nathan, still went to the parties. Warren steeled himself and quietly slid into the room.

“Hello, is anyone there?” Warren quietly asked out into the room. “Please don't be a murderer,” he added with a nervous laugh.

“No, I'm afraid it's someone far worse,” a voice dryly called back in reply, before stepping into Warren's field of view.

“Nathan!” Warren sighed. _Great, of all the people it could have been, it just had to be Nathan. Of course._ “I didn't expect to see you here.”

“Well... surprise,” the rich kid replied, his voice sarcastic and face expressionless, as he swept his arms out wide, like he had just landed an impressive gymnastic stunt, not stepped out from behind a door. “If you're here about the shitty-ass internet, don't bother. It's just out and no fiddling with the router will help any.”

Warren deflated. He had really been looking forward to getting back to playing WoW. “I take it you've already tried, then,” he questioned.

“Yep, I even tried calling the internet providers but nobody can do shit because of the holidays. So we're stuck here with no wifi.” 

“Well... shit,” Warren eloquently replied. Nathan gave a half chuckle. He looked at Nathan and asked, “But why are you here? I thought you were going to the party tonight.”

Nathan shrugged. “I went for a while, but I got bored and left.” 

Warren's mouth shot open as he began to ask about Nathan's family, but quickly remembered all the times Nathan had vented to him about his shitty family life and his horrible dad in particular. He promptly shut his mouth.

Nathan must have noticed, though, and said, as if he read Warren's mind, “And there was no way in hell I was about to spend any more time with Sean fucking Prescott than I had to. I opened the single card full of cash on Christmas day, said a quick thank you, and got my ass out of there.” And then, he added, “This room is shitty. Let's go somewhere cooler. Follow me.”

Warren started to protest, but Nathan had already bolted out the door, so Warren followed, turning off the light and shutting the door behind him. Nathan had already started making his way up the stairs. Warren jogged to catch up to him, but Nathan kept going up and up, looking back every now and then to make sure Warren was still following. They paused on the floor where their rooms were. Nathan entered his room and grabbed his varsity jacket and his camera, and suggested Warren grab something to keep him warm, too. He grabbed the first hoodie he could find in his room, a black one with a big Pokeball on it, and pulled it over his head. Nathan rolled his eyes at the sight of it but said nothing as they resumed their trek up the stairs.

Finally, they had run out of stairs to climb and reached the door that exited to the roof. Warren had to stop and catch his breath. Nathan was panting a little too, but not to the extent Warren was. 

“Out of breath after a few flights of stairs? You really are a nerd,” Nathan teased. He quickly jabbed Warren in the stomach with his finger.

“Hey!” Warren cried out. His face flushed, both from the feeling of suddenly being touched by Nathan like that, and also from the embarrassment of how soft his midsection must have felt to Nathan.

But Nathan didn't seem to care, or even notice. “Now, lazy-ass Madsen usually forgets to lock these doors, but don't worry, I have the keys for the off chance he actually did his job properly for once.” Warren wanted to ask how in the hell Nathan had the keys, but he figured it's probably because his dad pretty much owns the school.

Nathan grabbed the doorknob and turned. A sly smirk spread across his face. “Looks like we won't need those keys after all.” 

The two boys stepped out onto the roof, and Warren was struck by the beauty of Arcadia Bay's night sky. He had seen the sky at night before, of course, but never like this. Never from this angle. There were no trees or clouds obscuring his view. Warren was free to bask in the clear brilliance of the moonlight, and could count each glittering star that dotted the sky. He could hear the music from the party below a bit more clearly, but other than that, it was serenely quiet for New Year's Eve. Warren could stay in this moment forever.

“FUCK, it's cold as BALLS out here!” Nathan said a bit too loudly, a crude reminder that Warren was still on the roof of the Blackwell dorms. With Nathan Prescott. 

And now Warren was all too aware of the cold air biting at him. Even with his trusty hoodie, there was no way to ignore the cold winter air blowing across the roof of the dorm. He crossed his arms and went to go stand next to Nathan, who was now standing over by the edge of the roof, leaning against it and looking over the whole campus, snapping photos.

“What a view,” Warren said in amazement, scooting close to Nathan. “So, why'd you bring me up here? Just for this?”

Nathan simply shrugged. “Seemed like a better place to talk than some shitty tech room. What were you doing before you went down there?”

“I, uh... I was playing World of Warcraft, then the internet cut out, so I went to see if I could fix it.”

“Of course you were,” Nathan laughed and shook his head. “No matter, now you have me to hang with.”

“That reminds me, I'm still not sure why you're at the dorms and not the party.”

“Like I said, I got bored. And, if you tell anyone this, I'll kill you,” Nathan said and leaned in close to Warren, “but if you've been to one Vortex Club party, you've been to them all. Plus, I think I'm all partied out for the moment. There was the Thanksgiving party, the Christmas party, and now the club adds a fucking New Year's party on top of it?” He laughed again. “I didn't think I had a fucking party limit, but it seems I do.”

Warren laughed as well. “I'll be damned. You're full of surprises, Nathan Prescott. I thought of going myself, but, well, parties aren't really my thing. I would just end up being alone and left feeling awkward and out of place, I guess.” He rubbed the back of his neck.

Nathan scoffed. “Nonsense, if you had shown up, I would have brought you back to the VIP section and introduced you to everyone as the fucking nerd that saved my science grade, and we'd all get wasted.” 

“Oh god, no thanks,” Warren laughed, “that sounds like a bit... much for me. Try not to be too surprised, but I'm something of a lightweight.”

Nathan snorted. “Figures.”

“But I'm surprised you left before midnight. I'm sure you guys had something wild planned for when midnight hit.”

“Yeah, we did,” Nathan, gaze now turned to the ground, “the whole VIP section had it planned that all the couples would kiss at once right as the clock struck twelve, because kissing someone at midnight on New Year's is supposed to be good luck or what the fuck ever.” He rolled his eyes.

“I was going to kiss Victoria, just as friends covering each other, you know? But she... I don't know, some shitty crush of hers she thought wasn't coming decided to come after all, so she bailed and made arrangements so she could kiss them, leaving me with no one. Everyone else in the VIP section had someone to kiss and I...” Nathan's sentence lingered in the air. He brought his eyes up again, and they met with Warren's for a split second before turning to the side to look over the campus again. Warren swore he saw something in his eyes, but the glance was too quick to determine what it was. 

“A-Anyway, I didn't want to grab some fucking random nobody from the dance floor just to kiss them, there's nothing special about that. So I just left, and now here I am. With you.” 

Warren laughed. “Yeah, that must be everybody's dream. Spending New Year's Eve with me.”

“Hey,” Nathan said, suddenly serious, “there are worse ways to spend it. I was just drinking in my dorm watching Netflix. At least now I have some fucking company.”

Warren nodded. “True, I mean I was really wanting to play WoW, but you can't really beat a view like this.” He looked back up at the starry night sky, face illuminated by the moonlight. 

“No, you can't,” Nathan said, looking directly at Warren.

Warren brought his eyes back down to meet Nathan's. As always, he couldn't read the expression on his face, yet still their eyes remained locked to each other. For once, Warren was at a loss for words. He wanted to say something, anything to break the tension building between the two. He thought about tossing out one of his famously horrible science puns to defuse the situation, but what if that caused Nathan to back down? Warren might be oblivious at times, but there was no way he could deny that Nathan had been watching him this whole time. He was yet again terrified, both of possibly saying the wrong thing and scaring Nathan away, and of saying the right thing and making this real and what that would mean.

Suddenly, the heavy silence was shattered by the sound of fireworks. Lights erupted all across Arcadia Bay, from massive, glittering explosions coming from the direction of the beach, to a few small fireworks being launched right in front of the school. The stars that had previously dotted the sky had now been blown out and replaced by vibrant colors and dazzling gleams that danced across the horizon. Warren's head darted here and there, trying to catch every display that he could, a small smile on his face. He couldn't hear the faint clicking of a camera over the sound of the fireworks.

“I guess it's midnight,” Warren said with a small laugh. “You know, these people should watch out. Don't they remember that horrible fire a few years back? If they're not careful--”

Before he could register what was happening, Warren felt Nathan reach behind him and pull his head down, their lips meeting in a kiss. Eyes still open in shock, Warren didn't know what to do. Nathan's eyes were closed, so maybe he should close his well. He tilted his head to the side, too. Warren always saw people do that in movies, surely it must be the right thing to do? There was no tongue, not yet. Warren wasn't sure if he was ready for that, though he could still taste the faint traces of alcohol that lingered on Nathan's lips. _This must be a pretty chaste kiss by Nathan's standards,_ Warren thought. He had no clue what to do with his arms and hands, either. Afraid that wrapping his arms around Nathan would make things too intimate, Warren just left them dangling awkwardly at his side, shoulders slightly raised in surprise.

Despite all his confusion and awkwardness, the kiss actually felt... nice. More than nice, actually. It was as if the fireworks exploding in the distance now echoed inside him. Nathan's lips erased months of uncertainty and doubt. There was no way he could mistake Nathan's feelings towards him now.

And then, just as it had begun, it was over. Nathan pulled back from the kiss. He brought the viewfinder of his camera to his eye, pointed the lens at Warren's still dazed face, and... _Crack!_ A firework, one that was too big and too close to have been fired off safely, went off somewhere on campus, lighting up the sky behind Warren's head as Nathan snapped the photo. 

“Perfect,” Nathan mumbled under his breath, barely audible enough for Warren to hear. Without saying another word, Nathan turned towards the door and started to leave, as if nothing had happened.

“Nathan, wait!” Warren's arm shot out instinctively. 

Nathan swiveled his head around to look back at Warren, one eyebrow raised. 

“I, uh...” Warren stammered out. He didn't want Nathan to leave, but he was having trouble of thinking of something to say. His outstretched hand moved to the back of his neck and rubbed it. “That... that was my first kiss.” 

“It looks like that tradition bullshit is true, then. Your year is already off to a great start. Congrats.” A sarcastic smile appeared on Nathan's face. “Now come on, let's go watch a movie or something. I'm freezing my ass off out here.”

Funny, Warren had completely forgotten about the cold. 

Still, he jogged over to Nathan and they went back into the dorms. Nathan muttered something about doing the mustache's job for him as he locked the roof access door behind him. 

“You know, I could tell it was your first kiss,” Nathan said, descending down the stairs back towards their dorms.

“God, I bet,” Warren replied with a chuckle, hoping to hide his embarrassment. “I had no idea what to do. I'm sorry. I hope it wasn't too awful.”

The pair stopped outside of Nathan's dorm. Nathan grabbed his key and made to unlock the door. “Nah, believe it or not, that wasn't the worst kiss I've had.” The door opened and he invited Warren inside.

A sudden burst of confidence came over Warren, and a cheeky grin crept onto his face. “Maybe... I just need some more practice.”

Nathan rolled his eyes back into his head and he groaned. “What the _fuck_ ever, just get in here before I change my mind and delete your number from my phone.” 

Warren just laughed. He walked into the room and flopped onto Nathan's bed, feeling more comfortable on it than he ever had before.

“What do you want to watch?” Nathan asked.

“I picked last time, man, it's your turn. Surprise me.” Warren didn't care what Nathan picked. All that mattered at the moment was that he'd be watching it with Nathan.

Nathan plucked his Silence of the Lambs DVD off of his shelf and popped it into his computer. He knew they both loved the movie, so he figured it was a great first movie to watch for the year. He sat down on his bed, his leg brushing against Warren's.

The slight touch was enough to send Warren's brain back into overdrive. Before he could stop himself, the words started pouring out of his mouth. 

“Look, Nathan, I- for the past, like, month now I've been having these... feelings, and I didn't know what to do. I didn't know if you were feeling them too, I was scared of ruining our friendship, and then you kissed me on the roof just now and it was- it was... amazing! And I'm just so relieved to know now that you feel the same way. Or, maybe you don't and that was just some random thing and you just want to be friends, which is fine, too! I don't know what I'm saying- I just want to be with- I don't--”

Nathan interrupted Warren's rambling with another kiss on the lips. Short and to the point, but sweet, sweeter than one would suspect Nathan Prescott capable of being. 

Warren was befuddled yet again. His eyes wide and mouth agape, he had completely lost his train of thought. With no idea what to say, he said the first thing that came to his mind. “Happy New Year?”

Nathan smiled. “Happy New Year, Warren.”

Warren's confused expression shifted into a smile. Nathan quickly leaned his head close to Warren's and stretched his arm out, phone in hand, over their heads and snapped a quick selfie, uploading it to social media with the caption _spending my #nye watchign #silenceofthelambs with this fuckin nerd. dont be jealous._

Nathan turned his phone off and set it down on the nightstand. If he had kept it on for just a minute longer, he would have caught the texts and calls from Victoria that started flooding in. _nathan, is this why you ditched us at the party???, nathan i know ur there!, nathan..!!!_

A light bulb went off in Warren's head. “Oh, that reminds me! You're gonna have to show me that one you took of me on the roof. I bet I look like a dumbass.” He laughed, trying to picture how stupid he must have looked in the moment. 

“Oh, you do, you definitely do,” he grinned at the sight of Warren's hurt puppy dog expression. “But a cute dumbass, don't worry.” And like that, Warren's face perked back up.

Nathan finally pressed the start movie option on the DVD menu and the two of them turned their focus towards the projection across the wall. The two of them scooted together, the radiating heat from their bodies providing more than enough warmth for the both of them. As the movie played, Nathan eventually dozed off. His head fell to the side, finding a resting spot on Warren's shoulder, and at that moment, Warren had never been more grateful to have his internet connection go out. Soon enough, Warren's eyelids started feeling heavy as well, and as he felt himself drifting off into sleep, all he could think about was how this year was going to be amazing.

**Author's Note:**

> So I don't really know how to write kisses, or endings either for that matter, I hope it wasn't too obvious lmao. It wasn't really my intention going in, but this can kinda be seen as a prequel of sorts to my haircut fic too. Anyway happy new year! I hope you liked the fic, and I hope everyone has a great 2018!


End file.
